Red Hot Pentecost!

I was so excited to be part of the Pentecost celebration at church Sunday.  I had made white clay doves (cookie cutter type) and written the fruits of the spirit on them.  They had a hole to string red balloons through.  Someone else made red hand kites for the kids and we bought a couple cakes.  It was the first time these things had been done at our church (as far as I know) and I was really excited to celebrate together.  But alas, we ended up with a nasty little virus and decided it was best for everyone to stay home on Sunday.  

So I'm grateful for a week of red at home.  I hung banners Monday and got out our shoe box of decorations and we will enjoy them through the week.   Here is a glimpse of our Pentecost celebration.  How are you celebrating?

The boys painted the red paper like flames on the banner across the door.  The banner hanging behind it is from my mom's stash of Red fabrics.  

This banner was our Saints and Seasons group project earlier in the month.  We each brought a yard of red fabric and cut it into strips.  We then tossed all the fabrics in a pile and tied them on twine to make banners.

While Isaac and I drew the other day I made lunch box notes for the older boys.  

And we had Red Velvet cheesecake cupcakes.  My boys insist on calling them Pentecost muffins, but there is nothing muffiny about them - they are definitely dessert!  The cupcakes are from this recipe and have my very favorite frosting - a whipped cream cheese frosting, which is so light and delicious (I half the sugar). 

Pentecost

A friend asked if we had plans for Pentecost last week.  We didn't, so plans ensued.  

Last summer when visiting my parents I went through my Mom's stash of red fabric and cut banner pieces for Pentecost.  Piecing it together was a fun project in spare moments this week, often with Mr. five in charge of the sewing machine peddle and Mr. 3 on my lap managing the backstitch.  We also made a banner by painting with orange and yellow on red card-stock and stitching the pieces to ribbon.  I used the banners in the godly play room this morning (pictures to come) and had fun hanging them in the tree by the tables tonight.  Rowan was delighted with our 'Pentecost Fort' and sat down to write out the lyrics to a song they sang at school this week while I set the tables.

"Tongues of Fire - Tongues of Fire

Rushing Wind - Rushing Wind

The Holy Spirit - The Holy Spirit"

 The menu was fairly simple and I wasn't responsible for most of it.  We had 'red' chicken bbq sandwiches.  I made bread in honor of the Jewish festival of Pentecost, which is a grain harvest.  I shaped a large loaf like a sheaf of wheat and for the children's table made birds with a dusting of icing sugar to make them look like doves.  We had a green salad from the garden with radishes and beets for the red color.  Fruit represented the fruits of the spirit and red velvet cake balls finished out the night.

At the end of the evening we took out the six left over sparklers from last forth of July and some glow bracelets and read the first verses of Acts 2 before lighting them.

I do believe a Pentecost party has been declared a new tradition.  It was fun, fairly simple, and meaningful; all the pieces of a good celebration!

Godly Play Banners

 I just finished the Easter banner for our godly play room at church. Technically it was finished in Eastertide, though it won't get hung this year. The good news is I finished the Pentecost banner too.   So we have the correct banner for a week.   

I worked with a friend on these and we were going for simple. The Easter banner was done by freezer paper painting with gold fabric paint on cotton (the only white I had on hand). The Pentecost banner is just paintbrush streets of paint on red fabric (sateen I think, someone gave me a big piece of it at some point). 

A Fire Gnome for Pentecost

We had such a happy day of celebrating yesterday.  We waved pentecost wands and shared cupcakes at chapel.  I went for an amazing hike (straight up for 2 hours and then 1.5 hours down - whew, I am sore today!)  And we had a house full of L'abri students to play games and chat in the evening.  It was a really good day.  I love celebrating the church feasts.  It was such fun for the boys and, very naturally, we talked about the Holy Spirit and God's presence with us.

One thing I'm trying to focus on as we travel the circle of the church year is making things or traditions that are easy to repeat the following year with little or no work.  So this year a fire gnome joined us.  (I have a wind gnome drawn up too, but that might be what we add next year.)  He is funny, but will be a fun addition to our center piece or nature table for Pentecosts to come.  Above him hung a felt dove I made way back here.  The candle has wind, 50, a flame and a dove painted on it. 

Pentecost Sticks

I really meant to get on this project earlier in the week so I could share it with time to spare, but it is really simple.  So if you have what you need, some pentecost sticks can come to be very quickly.  

To make a pentecost stick you need:

several long pieces of ribbon (I used mostly red with a bit of gold and orange to look like flame)

A short piece of ribbon (4-5 inches)

A stick (you can use a dowel rod, but I just used sticks I found in our garden)

To make the stick you just glue the long ribbon on the end of the stick and use the small piece to wrap around the glued ends so everything looks tidy.

I love that this combines the images of flame and wind and can't wait to surprise the boys with them tomorrow!

Red Hot Pentecost

As I trace my finger around the circle of the church year (see photo at the end of this post) the children always wait in anticipation for me to come to the red square "Ouch, this one is hot, it is red hot Pentecost."  Then they each eagerly wait a turn to touch the 'red hot square'.  They get a bit goofy and put their fingers in their mouths to cool them.  

Sunday we celebrated in red - so simply.  I had in mind to try a red velvet cake like last year, but the strawberries are in season and strawberry pie was too yummy sounding to pass up.  

In other news, I think we are finally feeling settled.  Baking and cooking as usual the last couple days has helped me to feel that normality is coming.  And in the last couple days, we set up the godly play shelves and the nature nook, which were among the last touches in our school room and I do believe we are beginning to feel at home.  

Red Hot Pentecost!

Happy Birthday dear church, Happy Birthday to You!

I attempted a Red Velvet cake for the first time. I was ridiculously excited about the idea of cutting through the white (icing) of Easter to reveal the red of pentecost. I used this recipe from thejoyofbaking.com and it is oh, so yummy. But, I made one mistake. The recipe calls for two tablespoons of Dutch processed cocoa. I just used the cocoa I usually bake with... and my cake is more brown than red. I've now done research and learned that Dutch processed cocoa has a red tint to it. Oh well, next year we'll have a red red velvet cake.

A little singing, a little godly play, a little decoration, some wearing of red, some yummy cake... Happy Pentecost!

A Little of This and a Little of That...

This week has been a blur of projects, sunshine, and preparation.

We are preparing for two important events.

First, Gammy comes for a visit tomorrow and Jonah has been sleeping on a mattress in our room for the past two nights 'to get ready for when she comes'. It has actually been a good excuse to move the sleeping arrangements around a bit. Rowan is now in Jonah's room and hopefully will be sleeping through the night soon and Jonah can move back into 'the boys' room'. We can hope!

And Second, Sunday is pentecost. I did some freezer paper painting on red for the boys. Rowan's onesie has a small flame on it (to represent the flames that came down on the disciples heads at the first pentecost) and Jonah's has a dove on it (the dove is often a symbol of the Holy Spirit and thus, used for pentecost.) I chose the dove for Jonah as his name means dove. I've also been eyeing up some red velvet cake recipes to share on pentecost.

As for the sunshine, today was so warm we were peeling layers off on our our way home from play group. In the afternoon Jonah put on sandels and swim trunks and Daddy got the hose.

Look at those bare baby toes!

And one last thing, Rowan was playing with a friend this evening and she brought a toy... his favorite toy 'Sophie the Giraffe'.

Yes, he managed to steal the giraffe and proceeded to chew on every centimeter of it for the next half hour... what is it about this giraffe?